t I hope he can't. What are you going to do?"

"He does not know, dear," interposed her mother. "We must stop talking
about this thing now. Some of our friends are coming in. It is better to
let them tell us what has happened, just as if we had not heard it at
all. Be very careful what you say."

Perhaps everybody in the Paez mansion was accustomed to that kind of
caution, and when a number of excited women neighbors poured into the
parlor to bring the great tidings and discuss the situation, they found
no one in it who was to be surprised into saying a word which might not
have been heard without offence by the friends of either Paredes or
Santa Anna.

Great changes in public affairs may produce changes in the plans of
individuals, and it was not remarkable if General Zuroaga's intended
week of absence should be somewhat shortened. It may have ended at the
moment when the garrison of the citadel "pronounced" in favor of the
tyrant in exile and against the tyrant in nominal power. Ned, however,
had a small surprise waiting for him. It actually arrived not a great
while after luncheon, when he was feeling as if he would like to sit
down by himself and think over this very curious piece of political
business. He went up into the library, as the safest kind of
thinking-place, and, hardly had he opened the door, before he discovered
that it had another tenant besides the man in armor in the corner.

"General Zuroaga!" he exclaimed, in astonishment.

"Not quite so loud, please," quietly responded the general. "Yes,
Carfora, here I am. Here I must hide, too, for a few hours. The camp is
no longer a safe place for me, even in the disguise I was wearing. There
is really nothing more to keep me there now. I do not need to run any
further risks on account of Paredes and his tin monarchy. He is already
utterly ruined. I must get out of the reach of Santa Anna's
lieutenants, however, if I do not wish to be locked up. You and I can
slip away all the more easily while this tumult is going on, and by noon
to-morrow we may be well out on the road to Oaxaca. Will you be ready?"

"It's just what I was wishing for!" exclaimed Ned. "I know enough to see
that it isn't a good thing for Senora Paez to have me in the house. She
has troubles enough of her own. So has Senora Tassara. If an enemy of
theirs found that they had a gringo here, it would make things worse for
them. They've been real good to me, but I want to go with you."

"Rig